Jewelers must take risks to inspire big-ticket purchases under lockdown

April 2, 2020

Yvel Zoom party
Last weekend Israeli luxury jewelry brand Yvel hosted an exclusive Zoom video event and invited only its best customers.
The virtual event, which attracted around 300 customers from around the globe, featured a mentalist do readings and card tricks, and showcased some new pieces.
The event was held as a fundraiser for immigrants who worked in the Yvel factories are now are unemployed. The brand raffled off items and encouraged people to make purchases.
“They can't see their customers anymore and their customers can't see them, so they got into the broadcast business,” Mr. Adamson said.
“It was a bit of an infomercial, but they had a lot of customers and they connected with them on a big scale over Zoom. It forced them to go from being a retailer to becoming a broadcaster,” he said.
Rather simply selling jewelry, the event had models modeling the jewelry and lively entertainment.The mentalist randomly selected people to be contestants, so the customers were included in the event.
Additionally, they cut away to new videos of how the jewelry is made.
“It became a social event with their best customers, and is a great example of what retail can look like when people can't come into stores,” he said. “You can always find everything online, but everything online doesn't always recreate the retail environment.
“It wasn't just one salesperson saying buy this, they became the Home Shopping Network, but with some added some cause marketing on top which was very imaginative.”
[caption id="attachment_293653" align="alignnone" width="465"] The Creative Atelier founders Caitlin Shockley and Zaida Zamorano. Image courtesy of The Creative Atelier[/caption]
One on one
Private viewings are another way that jewelers can generate business when stores are closed, though these meetings may have to wait until after lockdown orders ease.
The Creative Atelier in Manhattan's Flatiron district offers luxury buyers and sellers a space to have one-on-one meetings at a time when stores are closed.
The creators of the space are listening to the recommendations and precautions of the Centers for Disease Control and the government and ensure that the location is deep-cleaned between private viewings.
“It’s going to be a very long while until people are comfortable in large groups again, so the one-on-one, private appointment set-up is going to be key in welcoming in designers, buyers, editors and shoppers, and making them feel both secure and like VIPs,” said Caitlin Shockley, cofounder of The Creative Atelier.
“We’re able to control traffic and cleanliness, and we’ve created an environment that we hope feels like an oasis and a deviant from the norm, someplace you want to hang out on velvet furniture, sip espresso or wine and see some amazing design work,” she said.
[caption id="attachment_293654" align="alignnone" width="465"] Yvel jewelry. Image credit: Yvel[/caption]
Auto pilot
Automakers Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai have created programs to relieve people of the financial burden of car payments if someone loses their job over coronavirus-related lay